A homecoming for kinder spirits

Starting off as a writer and healer, Chitra Jha has evolved into a veritable New Age guide to hundreds of women who follow her Facebook posts religiously and throng her Maika retreats to heal and grow spiritually. Ritu Gupta Ahluwalia, one of her admirers and beneficiaries, writes about the experience of being part of Chitra’s trailblazing sangha and how it changed the lives of all those associated with it.

- Chitra Jha

One of the most basic of human pursuits is the deep need to belong. From being hunter-gatherers, who moved as tribes, to more organized and evolved social circles segmented by religion and culture, our association has been our identity.

Sangha, as my friend Priyanka Ghode shares, comes from two words: ‘Sah,’ meaning ‘together’ and ‘anga,’ meaning ‘a part of the body.’ If sangha is the body, its people are the different parts, who come together and feel that they belong to each other, sharing a common intention or a goal, thriving on mutual love and respect, and living in complete awareness.

The concept of ‘sangha’ or ‘community’ has been in existence since the time of Buddha or, maybe, even earlier. Gautama Buddha professed ‘Sangham Sharanam Gachchami,’ which means ‘to take refuge in the sangha’ or ‘to be in sangha.’ The sanghas were created for people who came together as followers of someone or of a common belief. The late Swami Kriyananda’s Ananda Sangha is one such intentional community.

Growing together